Panasonic GH5

CES didn’t have much pro camera gear this year, and that makes the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH5 stand out. This upgrade of their professional hybrid Micro Four Thirds camera features 4K video capture and up to 60fps, in-body image stabilization, and programmable focus racks. It also boasts internal 4K/30p 10-bit 4:2:2 video capture. The GH5 has a 20MP Four Thirds sensor so there is no cropping in video

It will record full HD video at up to 180 fps which is 7.5x slow motion. The Panasonic GH5 features an ISO of up to 25,600. The magnesium alloy body is freezeproof to 14°F as well as splash and dustproof. There are two UHS-II SD card slots for fast image transfer and saving. It also offers both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when paired with a mobile app. A new feature is the autofocus point joystick on the back of the camera. The camera also has waveform and vectorscope monitors.

Panasonic GH5 Audio
With attachments such as the DMW-XLR1 accessory microphone unit, the GH5 stands out as a video AND audio camera.

Video footage is oversampled from 5.1K, due to the full sensor readout. By taking advantage of the full size of the sensor, the footage is sharper. Internal recording is for now limited to 8-bit 4:2:0 IPB encoding at up to 150Mbps but higher quality is available by using an external recorder. 4K video is recorded using the full width of the sensor.

Panasonic GH5 Stills
Other cameras can extract 8MP still images from 4K footage, but the GH5 takes this even further. Panasonic calls it 6K Photo. This means it can extract 18MP still images from ultra-high-quality video footage at 30fps at an unlimited burst rate.

The large OLED Live View Finder has an impressive 3.86m-dot resolution. It is large and bright.

Available in March of 2017 it retails for $1999. So I was very surprised to find it used for about $250 on Amazon. That’s the body only, of course, but what a price! Be sure to check these deals carefully. Let me know what you think.